Glenrothes fireworks show needed £8000 last-minute funding

emma.oneill@jpress.co.uk

Glenrothes’ fireworks show only went ahead thanks to last minute funding from Fife Council.

Organisers, Glenrothes and Levenmouth Scout District, hit a shortfall, and asked councillors for help just days before Friday’s show.

It applied to Glenreothes area committee for £8000 last Wednesday.

Councillors agreed a cash injection of up to £8700, which could be reduced once all donations gathered on the night are counted,

But they also expressed concern at the last-minute bid for help.

The show at Gilvenbank park cost a total of £14,107.

Councillors at the Glenrothes area committee on Wednesday noted that this was several years in a row that the group had applied for last minute funding.

Cllr John Beare, SNP for Glenrothes North, Leslie and Markinch, said that he was growing increasingly concerned with the late applications.

He said: “We do seem to get into this situation every year where the tin is shaken in front of us for money.

“Is it possible to get a report from the group in March – which is around six months time before the 2019 event – about the sustainability of the display and some forward planning?”

Cllr Craig Walker, SNP for Glenrothes West and Kinglassie, echoed this, adding: “This time scale is far too rushed. If we don’t approve the funding, then people won’t get the fireworks, which is a bit disconcerting.

“The fireworks show is a great display that I am in favour of. However, this has come to committee last minute every year for the last three or four years.”

And Cllr Fiona Grant, SNP for Glenrothes North, Leslie and Markinch, agreed, saying: “I was consulted about this issue only today. With the event being so soon, and it already been advertised, our commitment was almost pre-empted.”

Councillors agreed a maximum funding of £8786 – which should be reduced by any contributions gathered on the night – and asked that a report about the sustainability of the show be brought to a committee meeting in March.

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